Canara Bank in low-cost deposit drive

New Delhi: Improving CASA or low-cost deposit mobilisation is the focus area for the Canara Bank, and efforts taken in the direction are yielding results, its Managing Director K Satyanarayana Raju has said.

“Current Account Savings Account (CASA) stood at 31 per cent of the total deposits, and the aim is to increase to 33 per cent by the end of the current fiscal,” he told PTI. Rapid growth cannot be expected on the current account side, and it is another challenge to keep them for the long term as businesses tend to move them to term deposits quickly, he said. On the savings side, he said, “Our initiatives have started giving the results. You can see the accumulation and creation of the deposits. From year-on-year basis, June to June, if you see, there is an improvement of Rs 12,000 crore”. The focus of the bank will continue on savings bank individual deposits by introducing unique and innovative products, he added. On business growth, he said the bank has given a target of 10 per cent for the current financial year, against which there was a growth of 11 per cent in the first quarter that ended June.